Technical Committee on Heliports (HHH-AAA)

Transcription

1 DATE: April 30, 2014 TO: FROM: Technical Committee on Heliports (HHH-AAA) M E M O R A N D U M Principal and Alternate Members of the Technical Committee on Heliports (HHH- AAA) Barry Chase, NFPA Staff Liaison Office: (617) BChase@nfpa.org SUBJECT: AGENDA NFPA 418 First Draft Meeting (Fall 2015) May 14, 2014, Newark, NJ 1. Call to Order May 14, 2014, 8:00am ET 2. Introductions and Attendance 3. Chair s Comments 4. Review Agenda 5. NFPA Staff Liaison Presentation and Review of Key Dates in Current Cycle 6. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes (418 ROC Meeting Teleconference May 20, 2010) 7. NFPA 418 First Draft Report a. Address Public Input and Generate First Revisions b. Issues Related to Protection Systems and Helipad Surfaces/Surface Coatings (R. Alexander, HeliExperts) 8. Other Business 9. Next Meeting Please submit requests for additional agenda items to the chair at least seven days prior to the meeting, and notify the chair and staff liaison as soon as possible if you plan to introduce any committee comments at the meeting. All NFPA Technical Committee meetings are open to the public. Please contact me for information on attending a meeting as a guest. Read NFPA's Regulations Governing the Development of NFPA Standards (Section ) for further information. Additional Meeting Information: See the meeting notice on the Document Information Page ( for meeting location details. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Elena Carroll, Project Administrator at or by ecarroll@nfpa.org. C. Standards Administration Page 1 of 1

2 CHAIRS COMMENTS

3 NFPA-418 Heliport Standard Proposed talking points for Committee Comments from Rex Alexander on potential committee discussion items ITEMS: 1. Increasing the time duration as listed in NFPA-418 for rooftop foam systems from 5 minutes to 10 minutes. NFPA-16 calls out for a10 minute duration while NFPA-418 specifics a 5 minute duration. Provided the time span from the point an accident occurs to first responders being on the scene of a rooftop heliport accident is more than 5 minutes, the extra time will provide a critical level of added safety. The additional cost to increase the from 5-10 minutes on most foam systems would require adding additional concentrate with the potential of incorporating a larger foam tank. One of the original reasons for the 5 minute duration was in cases where the location utilized a self-contained water supply for which the amount of water required would be onerous. This, in those cases where it still exists, can be an exception if approved by the AHJ when a self-contained water supply is incorporated with the foam system. The vast majority of rooftop foam systems located at commercial buildings such as hospitals are supplied with water from fire pumps that are interconnected with municipal or private large reservoir systems. Once the foam concentrate provided runs out, the discharge then becomes water only. This in turn flushes the protective foam blanket away during the most critical phase. While this can be somewhat addressed in training, the procedure for shutting off many systems can be very difficult and time consuming. 2. Installation of a foam shut-off or Interrupt Switch at the location of an activation device. A foam shut-off or interrupt switch affords first responders and trained staff the ability to quickly shut off the foam system in the case(s) of or after: An inadvertent, mechanical malfunction (short-circuit) or vandalistic activation. Besides potentially taking the heliport out of service for an extended period of time; foam concentrate is also fairly expensive and messy as well as corrosive to a helicopter s aluminum alloy structure. Incidents have occurred where all of the foam concentrate has been used before anyone could locate the manual shut off valve and turn off the system. One notable case in point the security cameras captured the foam discharge caused by a short circuit as soon as the fire alarm went off. It then took some minutes to get someone up to the heliport to shut of the system. In this case an interrupt switch located at that security station may have helped. In the case of a small and quickly contained fire an interrupt switch would allow for the knocking down of a pad fire and then conserve the remaining foam for future flare ups. The interrupting or ceasing of the foam flow for first responders can provide a safer more conducive environment for rescue operations, inventorying aircraft wreckage for remaining flammables as well as the removal of Oxygen or other Hazardous Materials.

4 Shutting off the system when the foam is running out to prevent the plain water from washing off the protective foam blanket. Applying preventative foam in the event of a major crash without a fire as suggested by some fire professionals (best accomplished after crew/passengers/patients have off loaded and are clear of the pad). An electric Interrupt Switch is a much better way of controlling foam flow after the system has been initiated vs. a manual valve which may need to be reset to provide for reactivation of the system. This design concept has been accepted at all HeliExperts rooftop heliport clients for the past 5 years to include the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and Army Corp of Engineers, which includes a large number of broad and diversified AHJ s. This is a very minimal cost item as the newer deluge valves from companies such as Viking and Tyco are indeed designed to work in this fashion. Many rooftop heliport foam systems are a one-shot system, which also require maintenance to reset. During our audits we have found that in several cases the manual shutoff valves are physically located far from the primary foam activation site. Combined with the fact that the heliport security person on duty was not versed on where these valves were located or how the system worked created a high risk situation. Simple well-labeled controls like those in the enclosed photo from the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas have been found to work very well. This type of state of the art system can be activated and paused or aborted leaving many options for containing a pad fire WITHOUT the need for the attendant to leave the heliport lobby or other defined safety area to hunt for the manual shutoff valve. UL guidelines for water powered foam systems prohibit abort switches which are designed to abort a self-activation function on a foam system and address an entirely different issue. Such self-activation or automatic systems are not acceptable on rooftop heliports. Using the terminology foam Shut-Off or Interrupt Switch describes its purpose and increases rather than decrease safety. 3. Define the color of the foam activation devices. NFPA?? defines the color of fire alarm and foam activation devices/pull stations. NFPA 418 should echo and reference this information. 4. Define the need for a separate fire alarm and foam activation device. Some installers are incorporating a standard red fire alarm pull to perform both fire alarm and foam activation functions simultaneously. Under certain circumstances the activation of the foam system can negatively hinder rescue efforts and potentially contaminate injured parties. 5. Increase flow rate from.10 GPM s.f. to.12 GPM s.f. for rooftop heliport foam systems. HEI s experience with fixed nozzle rooftop heliport systems has shown that due to the normal wind conditions found at rooftop heliport locations much of the foam is blown off the heliport. It has been demonstrated that it is very difficult to achieve the 95% coverage defined in NFPA utilizing a fixed nozzle system due to winds. An increased flow assist in this instance would help compensate for this.

5 6. Qualify the testing method and mechanism used for establishing the standards which define the terms Noncombustible and Non-porous for heliport surfaces as found in NFPA that deals with rooftop heliport surfaces. Numerous heliports are now incorporating pad coatings that are listed as Fire-retardant and Fire-resistant. Unlike painted or stained surfaces some of these coating have been found to be fairly thick and could be a factor in a helicopter fire on a heliport. There are several manufacturers that are promoting these coatings for both initial and resurfacing of heliports. In a very recent case the Fire Marshal having jurisdiction over a heliport rejected these materials as it did not meet the non-combustive definition as spelled out by the NFPA, IBC or IFC. While normal heliport paint or stain markings may also fall into this category their thickness and quantity after cured as defined in the IBC is generally considered acceptable. While NFPA-418 does not contain the definition for the term Noncombustible (material) NFPA 99 calls out that it is a A material that, in the form in which it is used and under the conditions anticipated, will not ignite, burn, support combustion, or release flammable vapors, when subject to fire or heat. Materials that are reported as passing ASTM E 136, Standard Test Method for Behavior of Materials in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750 C, shall be considered noncombustible materials. (NFPA ) This same definition of Noncombustible found in NFPA code is also the same one that is used by the ICC in their International Building Code and International Fire Code. ASTM Testing Criteria: AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS (ASTM) ASTM E136 Standard Test Method for Behavior of Materials in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750 C. Purpose. The results of the ASTM E test method may be used to characterize those materials which do not support combustion under the specified test conditions (750 C). Materials passing the test are permitted limited flaming, glowing and mass loss. Procedure. Specimens are generally conditioned at 60 ± 3 C for twenty-four hours, and then stored in a desiccator for at least one hour. The furnace temperature is stabilized at 750 ± 5.5 C (1382 ± 10 F). Each specimen should be inserted into the furnace chamber and kept there until failure or until all temperature rise had ceased. Test Criteria. The specimen fails if the surface and interior temperatures rise more than 30 C above the furnace temperature or if the specimen flames after the first 30 seconds. If the specimen weight loss exceeds 50 %, the specimen cannot have any flaming during the test and the surface and interior temperatures cannot rise above the starting furnace temperature at any time during the test.

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7 PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

8 1. Call to Order ROC MEETING MINUTES NFPA 418 Technical Committee on Helicopter Facilities May 20, 2010 Windows Live Meeting The meeting of the Technical Committee on Helicopter Facilities via Windows Live was called to order by Chairman Ray Syms at 8:00 AM. 2. Introduction of Committee Members and Guests Self introductions of members and guests were completed. Those present are indicated below: TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS & GUESTS NAME Syms, Raymond - Chair Aaron, Michael - Principal Alexander, Rex - Principal Behnke, Joseph - Principal Dryden, Steve - Principal Rosenberger, Mark - Principal Slater, Donald - Principal Levin, Jonathan - Interim Staff Liaison REPRESENTING Raymond A. Syms & Associates The RJA Group Omniflight Helicopters Inc. Tyco Fire Suppression and Building Products Poole Fire Protection, Inc. Los Alamos National Security, LLC FM Global NFPA 3. Announcements NFPA Staff briefly reviewed NFPA s meeting procedures. Jonathan Levin was introduced as the interim Staff Liaison for the committee. Before beginning, it was noted that seven voting members were present. The key dates for the revision sysle of NFPA 418 were published in the meeting agenda package as follows: Final Date for ROC Meeting May 7, 2010* Ballots Mailed to TC before May 21, 2010* ROC Published August 27, 2010 Intent to Make a Motion Closing (NITMAM) October 22, 2010 Issuance of Consent Document (No NITMAMs) December 14, 2010 NFPA Annual Meeting Boston, MA June 2011 Issuance of Document with NITMAM August 11, 2011 * Dates have been extended as approved by the Standards Council Secretary. Page 1 of 2

9 4. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the July 7-8, 2009 ROP meeting held in San Francisco, CA were approved. 5. Action on Comments The committee acted on one public comment and generated three committee comments. 6. Task Group work assignments Safety Net Task Group: A task group consisting of Rex Alexander, Mark Rosenberger and Donald Slater was formed to review issues related to safety nets. 7. Old Business There was no old business. 8. New Business There was no new business. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. on May 20, Minutes Prepared by: Jonathan Levin, Interim Staff Liaison Page 2 of 2

10 NFPA 418 PUBLIC INPUT

11 Public Input No. 1-NFPA [ Section No ] The Whenever feasible, the design of the heliport, including all the aeronautical components, shall be in accordance with FAA AC 150/5390-2B, Heliport Design Advisory Circular. The FAA AC referenced in this section has recently been revised to include new provisions that fail to account for existing hospital facilities where it is not feasible, and in some cases would be impossible, to comply with all of the provisions of the AC. Many of those facilities were in compliance with previous versions of the AC, but will become non-compliant with the most recent change to the Heliport design AC. Other hospital heliport facilities may not have been in compliance with the previous edition of the AC, but note that compliance with the AC is only recommended, and not required, for private hospital heliports. The verbiage in NFPA 418 will take an FAA publication that is only advisory in nature and make it mandatory for facilities that cannot, and do not otherwise need to comply with it. In many cases, and depending on how strictly the enforcement of Section will be interpreted, many current hospital heliports may have to be closed at hospitals where full compliance with the AC is not feasible or is impossible and where there is no alternate helicopter landing area available. This would result in the loss of air medical transport services to those hospitals, which could result in more severe medical outcomes, including death, for the critically ill or injured patients who require air medical transport services to those facilities. By amending Section as I am suggesting the NFPA and the operator of the affected hospital heliport can jointly examine the feasibility of compliance with any provision of the FAA AC on heliport design and determine whether the existing helipad facility can continue to be utilized without undue risk of harm to any persons or damage to property. An additional weakness with many of the new changes to the FAA AC in question is that there does not appear to be any evidence-based criteria for many of the changes. That is, no data is presented that documents that any significant number of incidents or accidents have occurred that are related to the changes in question. These facts are sufficiently problematic when the AC is considered in its intended status as an advisory document for private heliports. But it becomes a critical issue if the AC is to be seen as a mandatory requirement, as Section of NFPA 418 would render it. Submitter Full Name: William Winn Organization: Intermountain Life Flight Affilliation: National EMS Pilots Association Submittal Date: Tue Jun 25 17:12:07 EDT 2013 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM

12 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 9-NFPA [ Section No ] Fueling equipment shall be located at least 25 ft (7.6 m) from hangars and fixed fire protection equipment. The requirement is intended to specify a minimum distance. Equipment located distances greater than 25 feet from hangars and fixed fire protection equipment should also be considered as meeting the requirement. Submitter Full Name: John Chartier Organization: Northeastern Regional Fire Cod Submittal Date: Fri Nov 08 07:51:26 EST 2013

13 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 10-NFPA [ Section No. 5.3 [Excluding any Sub-Sections] ] The rooftop landing pad shall be pitched to provide drainage at a slope of of at least 1 / inch in 1 foot to 16 a maximum of ¼ inch in 1-foot ( 0.5 percent to 2 percent). Slope is more conventionally expressed in the number of inches of rise (or drop) per foot of run. Submitter Full Name: John Chartier Organization: Northeastern Regional Fire Cod Submittal Date: Fri Nov 08 07:52:28 EST 2013

14 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 8-NFPA [ Section No ] The contiguous building roof covering within 50 ft (15.2 m) of the landing pad edge shall have a Class A fire resistance rating for exterior fire exposure, and shall be tested according to FM 4470, Approval for Class 1 Roof Covers ; ANSI/UL 790, Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Roof Covering ; or ASTM E 108, Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Roof Coverings.. Section contains a requirement that is vague and not specific, the proposed wording comes from NFPA Submitter Full Name: John Chartier Organization: Northeastern Regional Fire Cod Submittal Date: Fri Nov 08 07:50:12 EST 2013

15 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 11-NFPA [ Section No ] At facilities where there is more than one rooftop landing pad, the supply of foam available shall be sufficient to cover an incident on at least one of the pads on the one pad that requires the largest foam supply. The requirement does not intend to permit a supply of foam to be less than needed just because there are more than rooftop landing pad. As written, the supply of foam available only need to be sufficient to cover an incident on the smallest pad. Submitter Full Name: John Chartier Organization: Northeastern Regional Fire Cod Submittal Date: Fri Nov 08 07:53:46 EST 2013

16 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 12-NFPA [ Section No ] The pitch of the rooftop hangar floor shall be a minimum of 1 2 of of 1 percent ). 1 / 16 inch in 1 foot (0.5 Slope is more conventionally expressed in the number of inches of rise (or drop) per foot of run. 1/2 was changed to 0.5 to be consistent within the document. Submitter Full Name: John Chartier Organization: Northeastern Regional Fire Cod Submittal Date: Fri Nov 08 07:55:02 EST 2013

17 Public Input No. 2-NFPA [ Sections 6.7.1, ] Sections 6.7.1, Portable fire extinguishers for rooftop hangars shall be provided in accordance with NFPA 10, Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers In helicopter or storage and service areas, the distribution of fire extinguishers shall be provided in accordance with the extra hazard azard classification of NFPA 10, Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers. Combine paragraph and and clearly define that extinguishers are to be provided in accordance with extra hazard classification of NFPA 10. Submitter Full Name: Fred Goodnight Organization: Amerex Corporation Submittal Date: Wed Aug 21 12:16:48 EDT 2013 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM

18 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 4-NFPA [ Section No. 9.2 ] 9.2 Minimum Requirement. At least one portable fire extinguisher Portable fire extinguishers as specified in Table 9.2 shall be provided for each takeoff and landing area, parking area, and fuel storage area. Foam extinguisher options shall be used only where freezing temperatures are not a factor or where extinguishers are protected from freezing temperatures. Revise Table 9.2 as shown in the uploaded file. Table 9.2 Minimum Ratings of Portable Fire Extinguishers for Heliport Categories Heliport Category Helicopter Overall Length* Minimum Rating H-1 Less than 50 ft (15.2 m) 4-A:80-B H-2 50 ft (15.2 m) up to but not including 80 ft (24.4 m) 10-A:120-B H-3 80 ft (24.4 m) up to but not including 120 ft (36.6 m) 30-A:240-B *Helicopter length, including the tail boom and the rotors. Additional Proposed Changes File Name Description Approved 418_PI4_Table9.2.pdf Table 9.2 Existing Table 9.2 provides fire extinguisher ratings that correspond to 17, 50 and 150 lb. halon 1211 extinguishers. These extinguishers are "clean agent type" only and currently have limtied availability. Also, UL has announced they will discontinue listing of these type extinguishers int he near future (as early as October 2014?) The revised table provides clean agent extinguisher options using EPA SNAP approved alternate agents as well as dry chemical extinguishers and foam extinguisher options. The clean agent ratings have been revised to correspond to currently available UL listed wheeled clean agent extinguishers with ratings available from at least two different manufacturers. In some cases multiple clean agent extinguishers are needed to provide a fire-fighting capability close to that that has previously been required by halon 1211 extinguishers. Submitter Full Name: Fred Goodnight Organization: Amerex Corporation Submittal Date: Wed Aug 21 12:24:50 EDT 2013

19 Page2 Table 9.2 Minimum Ratings of Portable Fire Extinguishers for Heliport Catagories Heliport Helicopter Overall Clean Agent Dry Chemical Foam Category Length Type Type Ty_pe H1 Less than 50ft 4-A: A:160 8 {15.2M) H2 50ft (15.2) up to but 10-A: A:160 8 not including 80ft (24.4M) H3 80ft (24.4M) up to 10-A: A:160 8 but not including (Qty. 2) 120ft (36.6J Helicopter length, including the tail boom and the rotors

20 Public Input No. 3-NFPA [ Section No. 9.3 ] 9.3 Extinguishers Subject to Damage, Theft, or Tampering. Where the portable extinguisher cannot be maintained and safeguarded against damage, theft, or tampering, the portable fire extinguisher shall be omitted with the approval of the AHJ Multipurpose dry chemical (ammonium phosphate) shall not be used. A.9.3 Multi-purpose dry chemical (ammonium phosphate) fire extinguishing agent is known to cause corrosion to aluminum aircraft components. Although the agent is capable of extinguishing fires on or near aircraft, it is likely that the agent will spread to other, uninvolved aircraft, causing damage from corrosion. (from NFPA 407, A ). Carbon dioxide extinguishers should not be selected due to their limited range and effectiveness in windy conditions. Extinguishers should not be removed simply because they may be subject to damage, theft or tampering. Suitable solutions are available for solving these types of problems. The new wording added is a prohibition of using ABC multi-purpose dry chemical to comply with the ratings shown in Table 9.2. It is widely recognized that ABC dry chemical should not be used around airplanes/helicopters due to corrosion and the difficulty of cleaning airframes and crevices so that corrosion does not occur. Submitter Full Name: Fred Goodnight Organization: Amerex Corporation Submittal Date: Wed Aug 21 12:18:59 EDT 2013 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM

21 0 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 5-NFPA [ Section No. 9.3 ] 9.3 Extinguishers Subject to Damage, Theft, or Tampering. Where the portable extinguisher cannot be maintained and safeguarded against damage, theft, or tampering, the portable fire extinguisher shall be omitted with the approval of the AHJ. No fire protection equipment including fire extinguishers, fire sprinkler connections, fire alarm pull stations where required, etc., should be allowed to be omitted due to possible theft or tampering. Other approved methods of protecting the extinguisher or other fire protection equipment should be utilized. Theft and tampering of fire department connections and extinguishers has been a growing problem in some areas but should not relieve the property owner from protecting them or the AHJ from requiring them. All areas of a heliport including fueling systems, signage, fencing, etc., could be subject to damage, theft or tampering and cannot be omitted but must be protected in an approved manner. Submitter Full Name: Bill Galloway Organization: Southern Regional Fire Code De Submittal Date: Tue Oct 29 15:18:36 EDT 2013

22 1 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 6-NFPA [ Section No. 9.3 ] 9.3 Extinguishers Subject to Damage, Theft, or Tampering. Where the portable extinguisher cannot be maintained and safeguarded against damage, theft, or tampering, the portable fire extinguisher shall be omitted be protected by additional locking or securing methods with the approval of the AHJ. In circumstances where portable fire extinguishers are required but are subject to an extreme or unusual possibility of damage, theft, or tampering, they should be allowed to have extra unusual protections provided, including extra locking or storage arrangements, but only with the approval of the AHJ. The problem of the possibility of damage, theft, or tampering of a required fire protection feature, in this case a portable extinguisher, should not relieve the property owner of the requirement to provide it but should allow them to provide unusual extra storage or security methods approved by the AHJ. Submitter Full Name: Bill Galloway Organization: Southern Regional Fire Code De Submittal Date: Tue Oct 29 15:19:34 EDT 2013

23 2 of 12 4/30/2014 7:57 AM Public Input No. 7-NFPA [ Section No ] 10.1 Emergency Response Plan. An approved emergency response plan shall be developed for each heliport. The emergency response plan for a heliport should be reviewed and approved by the AHJ. Submitter Full Name: Bill Galloway Organization: Southern Regional Fire Code De Submittal Date: Tue Oct 29 15:21:26 EDT 2013